Virus
by TheRealBakura
Summary: A girl, Mahala, becomes friends with the three Yugis. Mahala has a secret, her name's meaning: sickness. What kind of cruel parent would give their child that name... unless it had meaning? Yugi, Yami, and Atem are determined to find out her heritage and past, and that's proving to be impossible with Yami's pregnancy going downstream. Is Yami ill, or is the baby coming too early?
1. One

"I'm pregnant," Yami announced, his hands behind his back.

Yugi and Atem looked at Yami in shock. Yugi had given birth to their son, Saisho, just about a month ago. It couldn't be possible that another child was already on the way.

"How far along are you?", Atem asked.

"According to the pregnancy test, two months," Yami said.

"You took a pregnancy test?", Atem asked, his right hand on his hip.

Yami nodded. "Yugi did. Didn't you, Yugi?"

Yugi absentmindly nodded. "So, I've already decided on names," Yami said.

That got Yugi to look up from the ground and pay attention to Yami. "If it's a boy, I'm naming him Randamu. If it's a girl, her name will be Totsuzen."

"I think those names are perfect," Atem said.

"What do you think, Yugi?", Yami asked.

"I like them," Yugi said dully.

Yami's wide smile turned into a blunt frown. "You don't. I know you don't."

Yugi slammed his hand down on the floor. "Listen, I'm going through some stuff right now!"

"Like what, another pregnancy?", Yami asked, his voice sounding teared up.

"Yami, please!"

"Yugi, this is serious! It's important to me and Atem! Why don't you care about it?!"

"I do, but I'm going through some things!"

"Like what?!"

"Well, for starters, Saisho is only a month old, and we've got another on the way! That's enough on it's own! That also means we're going to have to spend a lot more money on medical bills, and emergency room bills, later!"

"I'll just give birth here, then! We don't even have to pay for an ultrasound! This can just go on as it is! Please, at least, be happy for me!"

"It's pretty hard to be happy right now, Yami!"

Yami started crying and ran right out the door. Atem came over to Yugi and slapped him across the face. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! YOU HURT HIS FEELINGS!"

"I wasn't trying, Atem! Maybe, if you were a little less enthusiastic, I wouldn't have said anything wrong! Then, Yami wouldn't have left! It's your fault, Atem, not mine!", Yugi yelled.

Atem scoffed, then ran out the door after Yami, slamming it behind him.

"I'm not the bad guy," Yugi told himself, laying on the floor. "He should've waited to say anything."

Saisho walked over to Yugi and sat on his back. All Yugi did was smile as he looked out the window. Where were Yami and Atem? He growled to himself and turned his head away from the window. He didn't want to seem like a jerk, but it **was** Yami's fault that either of the two had ever run out the door.

If Yami hadn't told him and Atem about the baby so quickly, then Yugi wouldn't have aggravated Yami, Yami wouldn't have ran out the door, and Atem wouldn't have followed him. Then, the house would have more people in it. It wouldn't have been so quiet.

Yugi sighed, and quickly fell asleep.

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Atem pet Yami on the top of the head, but that didn't stop the flow of tears running down Yami's face.

"He wasn't trying to hurt your feelings," Atem explained.

'You're only saying that, Atem," Yami told him. "He's been at my throat, ever since Kaiba at Duelist Kingdom."

"You were trying to help. It was just an impulse. I understand, Yami. Yugi doesn't," Atem told him.

Yami leaned into Atem, who kissed him on the forehead. Without even realizing what he was doing, Atem slowly slipped his hand down Yami's pants, and grabbed his underwear. Yami screamed, and pulled away from Atem.

"PHARAOH ATEM OF EGYPT!", Yami screamed, his hands cupped over his mouth.

"What?! What did I do?!", Atem asked, creeping away into a corner.

Yami looked around for a few seconds, before kicking a nearby soda can in Atem's general direction. Atem scoffed, and stood up. The only thing he saw was a blur of black, yellow, and magenta flying past.

"What did I do?!", Atem kept shouting, running down the sidewalk after Yami.

It took only a few minutes for Atem for lose breath. He kept trying to run, but sweat was running down his forehead, and his heart was racing. Before he knew it, he couldn't see. As he was running, weak enough to be walking, he tripped on the sidewalk, and fell to the ground. He passed out.

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"And you ran all the way here?"

"Yeah. I don't know where Atem went, but... good riddance!"

She laughed, and handed him a mug of coffee. It looked like more than just coffee, with whipped cream swirled over the top of it, and two cinnamon sticks poking out of the top. She quickly put a straw in it, and Yami began to sip.

"Vanilla?", he asked, smiling.

She nodded. "I'm a barista. Vanilla is common, so it's a habit to put it in the coffee. I try to avoid it, personally, I don't care for vanilla."

Yami shrugged his shoulders and continued to sip on his coffee. "And, Yugi's being a total jerk about it, too. He doesn't even care! This makes me wonder if he didn't even want Saisho. I'm a horrible husband, and and an even worse father."

She gasped, and put her hands over her mouth. "Yami Victor Yugi!"

 _I still hate my mom for that_ , Yami thought.

"Don't say that! You're an amazing father, and Atem and Yugi think you're wonderful, I'm sure!" she told him.

"You haven't even met Atem or Yugi," Yami told her.

"I don't need to know them to know how they feel about you! I know you, and that's all that matters!", she yelled at him.

Yami smiled, and leaned over to kiss her on the lips. She didn't fight back, but, rather, went along with it, and only pulled away when Yami did.

"Don't tell anyone about anything, including that kiss," he told her.

She nodded. "My lips are sealed."

Yami walked out the door, running across the road to get to the other side. Her house did not have a crossroad anywhere near it, it was just a thick strip of road that ran from her driveway over to the narrow strip of path that would take Yami back home.

She smiled, waving as Yami run off, but she quickly froze. "YAMI, LOOK OUT!"

Yami didn't have time to react as the incoming lights blinded him. The only thing that the whole neighborhood heard then was a deep scream.


	2. Two

Yugi hurriedly put on his boots and his jacket. He scooped up Saisho, wrapped a blanket around him, and ran out the door. He didn't even bother to hail a taxicab, he ran the whole way there. After the thirty minutes it took to get there, Yugi immediately took of his coat and shoes, then he left Saisho's blanket with his snow-covered things. Yugi was thankful that he decided to leave Saisho's favorite blanket at the house, or neither he or Saisho would get any sleep that night.

A girl was sitting on the couch. Yugi supposed that she was the girl that had called him on the phone earlier, and told her to come and get Yami. She was holding a mug of hot chocolate in her hands, which were shaking worse than a chihuahua normally did. Upon looking up from the ground and looking at Yami, she tried to keep as stiff as she probably could, as not to show Yugi how she was feeling.

"Is he...", Yugi stopped as he saw the girl shake her head.

"He's not dead, but he has been run over by a car. I think his ribs were crushed," the girl said.

"How did you find him?", Yugi asked her.

"He was crossing the road. A car didn't use it's turning signal, stop for Yami, or even turn on it's headlights. The only time it turned it's headlights on was when it was really close to Yami, and then it ran him over. It's a miracle he's not dead, really. Anyway, I still haven't gotten ahold of Atem; he's nowhere, really. Let's face it, Yugi, the only person I could manage to get to was you," she told him.

"How do you know our names?", Yugi asked.

She sighed. "He told me your names. He gave me the phone numbers, the address. He told me everything. I've known him for years, he knows everything."

"Who?", Yugi gasped. "Yami. Why didn't he tell us he knew someone else?"

"I'm a forbidden friend. No one was supposed to know about me. It is a miracle I'm alive, but that means I'm different. That I'm imperfect. That I'm useless and worthless. Nobody allowed the King of Games to get anywhere near me, until my guardians left me on my 14th birthday, and the 18-year-old King of Games came to visit me. We've been friends ever since our first meeting.", she told him.

"But, Yami's got to be, what... 37, 38? You've known him for almost 20 years, and he never told us about you. We would've kept you safe," Yugi told her.

"Not the Pharaoh," the girl said, taking her hair into her hands and slowly pulling it down, over and over again. "He would've turned me in, I know. Nobody likes a mistake. Nobody wants a mistake."

There were tears streaming down her face, now. Yugi put a hand on her shoulder. "I like you. I'd like to know you. Let's start with names. You already know mine," he said. "What's yours?"

She smiled. "Mahala."

"Mahala, what?"

"I don't know. I was born Mahala. My parents dumped me on the side of the road; I was abandoned and forgotten. Someone driving by noticed me and took me to my guardians. They took care of me, in this very house, until I was 14. Then, they let me go.", Mahala said.

Yugi couldn't help but cry. He let the tears roll down his face, and Mahala seemed to not be paying attention to the tears, but, rather, she seemed fascinated by Saisho. She reached for him, only making small noises that sounded like "give me", in a sense. Yugi looked at her like she was losing her mind.

"You want to hold him?", Yugi asked her, looking wary of Mahala, who had seemingly gone mute. She had given Yugi the story that made him cry tears, and now she wouldn't say a word.

She nodded, as Yugi handed her Saisho. She swaddled him in her arms, playing with him slightly as he giggled and said those little baby words that no one understands. Yugi smiled, but heard a moaning noise. He followed the sound, to find Yami laying in a bed in a small room.

"Yami, are you okay?!", Yugi asked Yami, the tears still rolling down his face. Yugi was getting that feeling in his stomach: that one that indicated that a person was nervous, when Yami didn't respond.

Eventually, he spoke. "Yugi? Is that you?"

Yugi sighed with relief. "Yes, it's me."

"Yugi, I'm sorry for running away from you. I'm sorry that I ended up getting run over by a car. I'm sorry that I'm pregnant. I'm sorry... for everything."

Yugi walked closer to him, and kissed him on the forehead. "Yami, don't be sorry! I was being cruel to you; you practically had no choice but to run off. You can't control if some guy was being a jerk and didn't warn you that you were in the path of an incoming car. You truly, truly can't control if you get pregnant, really.

"The point of the matter is, you shouldn't be sorry for anything. I don't like seeing you apologizing for everything, when there's nothing that you should be sorry about. I've given you my apology for my half of the argument, and I'm not going to accept any of yours when it isn't even necessary! Please, Yami, just... don't be sorry. You can be anything but sorry."

Yugi leaned in and kissed Yami's cheek. Yami moved his head so that Yugi would end up kissing him on the mouth, which he did. Yugi had no objection to it, but, rather, preferred giving Yami a lengthy kiss on the mouth rather than a dash of one on the cheek. To both Yami and Yugi, a kiss on the mouth was heaven. They weren't too sure how Atem felt about it.

They didn't care if Atem didn't like the idea of Yami and Yugi being in a relationship. They had known each other longer than Atem had known either of them, so what did say did Atem have? You can't control who you fall in love with, another friend of Yugi's had said before, and she was right.

Atem was, indeed, trying to control who Yami liked- Yami liked Yugi, but Atem wanted Yami to like him- but Yami and Yugi weren't going to let that happen. They were also concerned, now, about the child Yami was carrying.

When Saisho was born, Atem had rejected him, because he had said that he 'wasn't pure'. He stayed away from him, not even talking about him, not getting anywhere near him. When Yami managed to talk to Atem about it, Atem revealed that he believed Saisho to be impure because Yugi had given birth to him, rather than Yami. He said that if the child was Yami's, he would've loved it and considered it his own.

Yugi and Yami were concerned for the baby's safety, because Atem wouldn't let Yami or Yugi anywhere near it, and he probably would take care of it himself and put it in danger. He also wouldn't let Yugi and Yami anywhere near each other. They would always be out of each other's reach. That was the thought running through Yami's head just then, and that's when Yugi and Yami realized that they needed to escape Atem, or their new baby was in danger.

Step One, however, was finding Atem, in order to escape him. And, that was exactly what they were going to do. As Yami realized it, he got a nervous feeling in his stomach. He denied the nervous feeling by trying to convince himself it was happiness, but that didn't help at all.

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Atem woke up, dressed in a small white robe and laying on a soft mattress. The room was white, with a single window on the wall on his left. He didn't want to look at much else, he just wanted to know where he was. A young girl passed by him, and he smiled.

"Excuse me, ma'am," he said to her, causing her to turn around, "I was wondering, where am I?"

"You're in the Domino City hospital," she told him.

"Huh," he said, "I thought I was in a portrait gallery, because you are absolutely beautiful," he told her.

She smiled, and her face went red. "Well," she said, her voice half a whisper, "I guess I'll go tell the doctors that you're awake."

Atem saw her run over to a group of other nurses, teenagers, like her, and she started squealing and talking to them. Soon enough, they were all engrossed in the conversation of the fact that Atem had just flirted with her. One of the other nurses was being begged by her friends to go over to Atem, and she if he would flirt with her, but she didn't move an inch from the spot she stood in.

Soon enough, a doctor appeared behind them. Atem listened more closely to this part of all the commotion; it was sure to be the most interesting part.

"What are you doing?!", the doctor shouted, frightening the nurses.

"Well, Samantha came over here, talking about the new patient, the super hot one," a brunette girl said.

"And, we were telling Harriet," another girl said, pointing at that same brunette, "to go over there so he would flirt with her the same way he flirted with Samantha."

"That's not what happened, Nicole!", the girl named Harriet scolded the previous girl.

"It is, Harriet!", another girl with red hair told her.

"Shut up, Amberlynn! You don't have an opinion on things!", Nicole shouted at her.

"You guys are so mean to her! You should treat her with more respect!", Samantha scolded Nicole.

"At least someone's on my side!", Amberlynn shouted.

The girls were all shouting at each other again, and Atem couldn't help but chuckle. "QUIET!", the doctor screamed.

All four girls did as they were told as the doctor walked over to Atem. Atem looked at him warily as he checked Atem's temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and approximate height. He also took blood, skin, hair, and fingerprint samples- although Atem wasn't exactly sure why- until he had filled up the whole page on the clipboard he was holding. He quickly left.

"Hey. Hey. Hey! Nurse girls!", Atem yelled.

The girls named Samantha and Harriet turned around. "Yes, sir?", they asked him politely, obviously making the effort not to blush.

"Why am I here?", he asked.

Samatha's face went red, but, this time, with embarassment of some kind. Harriet took a step forward. "You fainted of heat stroke... but there's more to it."

"TELL ME," he said a loud, deep, commanding voice, "WHAT IS 'MORE'?!"

"It's something that doesn't have anything to do with your heat stroke," Harriet continued, seemingly frightened of Atem, "In fact, it's pretty absurd."

"What is it?!", Atem asked, somewhat furious.

Samantha walked over to Harriet and whispered something into her ear. Harriet shook her head and whispered something else into Samantha's ear. Samantha nodded, and both girls turned to face Atem.

Harriet elbowed Samantha in the side, and Samantha did the same to Harriet. The girls continued elbowing each other until Atem cleared his throat loudly. Harriet then pushed Samantha forward, so she would be talking to Atem.

"So," he said, "what's my problem, my absurd medical condition, my issue caused by unknown means? TELL ME!"

Samantha looked behind her at Harriet, who was waving and smiling, most likely glad that she wasn't the one having to tell Atem. Samantha gulped, took in a breath, and turned back to Atem.

Her face was grim. "You're... pregnant."


	3. Three

Saisho cried quietly, and Mahala was trying with all her might to get him to stop. She didn't want Saisho to be upset. Yugi and Yami were in her guest room, probably kissing the heck out of each other out of happiness to see one another; Mahala didn't want to have to pull them apart just so Yugi could get Saisho.

Mahala smiled; she knew what she would do. She grabbed a small length of cloth, soft enough to be a blanket, and wrapped it around Saisho. She ran out the back door.

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"Yugi, did you hear a door?", Yami asked.

"No," Yugi told him, "I didn't hear a thing."

Yami nodded, and the two continued to kiss.

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Atem started breathing hard and stared at Samantha like she had just lost her mind. Samantha put her hand on top of Atem's. "I know it's a lot to take in," she said.

"Yeah. It is," he said.

Harriet sighed. "i knew you shouldn't have told him," she told Samantha.

Atem stood up, and walked over to the window. He had to be on the fifth floor, or something like that; he was reasonably high up. He looked out. "First Yugi, then it's over, then it's Yami, now it's me," he mumbled to himself. He pounded on the glass. "When will this madness end?!"

"Approximately 8 months," Harriet said.

Atem turned around, and looked at Samantha with a puzzled look. "You're already a month in," she told him. "Within a few months, you would've started with the morning sickness, the weight gain, the contractions. You would've figured it out, sooner or later."

Atem nodded. "How," he asked, "could this happen? This isn't truly possible, is it?"

"Well, you mentioned a Yugi and a Yami," Harriet said. "If this would be Yugi Muto and Yami Yugi, I guess it's Rotation Year."

Atem raised a eyebrow. "Rotation Year," Samantha explained, "is one year in every 10,000 that females do not get pregnant at all, but, rather, the males do."

"However," Harriet noted, "despite the fact we call it Rotation Year, it only lasts for about six months. It's got to be just the fourth month."

Atem told himself that it was true. Saisho had been born last month. Yami had revealed himself to be two months pregnant just yesterday. He could've become pregnant around the time Saisho was born. The only reason that Saisho had been born during the first month was that he was premature- Yugi was only about a month pregnant when he fell into labor with him.

The second Saisho had been born, they took him, and Yugi, straight to the hospital. That was the only reason Saisho was still alive. If he hadn't been taken there, he wouldn't be alive. Atem smiled at that thought, but also frowned, at the fact that he would give birth to his child just the month after Yami. It wasn't that he thought that he should come first, but he was frightened to give birth, itself.

A thought dawned on him. "I need to get out of here," he said.

Harriet covered her face with her hands. Samantha began to whistle, in a way that told Atem she was attempting to ignore him. Atem coughed loudly to get their attention.

"You can't!", Samantha screamed out of fright.

"I can't? Why not?", Atem asked.

"You see, you fainted of heat stroke," Harriet explained, "They need you to be taken home by a relative or friend who has a driver's licence, and no DUI history."

 _Damn it,_ Atem thought. Yugi didn't have a driver's license, and Yami had a pretty long history of DUI arrest. It looked like he was stuck...

Or was he?

He threw the pillow behind him at Harriet. Samantha ran over to her, but by the time both girls could attempt to get up and stop Atem from going anywhere, he was gone.

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"Saisho?! Mahala?!", Yugi screamed.

"Mahala?! Saisho?!", Yami followed.

For around an hour, Yami and Yugi had been searching the house and the surrounding neighborhood for any sign of Mahala and Saisho, both of whom seemed to have disappeared. Yugi and Yami had tried describing Mahala to her neighbors, but they said that it only described the child of the people who lived there just about a year ago, a girl named Taren Foster. Either way, they hadn't seen her, or Saisho.

They kept trying, but they didn't want to get too far from the house, considering they didn't have a key. Soon enough, they were stuck waiting for Mahala and Saisho inside the house, and filing a Missing Persons report to the police.

"She had Saisho," Yugi told Yami. "If something happened to her, she probably has Saisho with her."

"What if she doesn't?", Yami asked.

"I shudder to think," Yugi said.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Yugi and Yami were both hoping for it to be Mahala and Saisho, with an explanation as to why they were gone, but it wasn't. It was Kaiba and Mokuba.

"We've been looking everywhere for you," Mokuba told them.

"What happened?", Yami asked them.

"Someone broke into the room that contained the Virtual World simulator!", Kaiba shouted.

Yugi and Yami looked at each other. "Noah!", they both yelled, then turned back to Kaiba.

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "He's missing from the Virtual World, and there's a young girl named Taren trapped in there!"

"Taren?!", Yugi and Yami shouted in unison.

"Yeah. We don't know who has her body, but whoever it was probably helped Noah out of the Virtual World," Mokuba said. "More to the point, Taren says the girl who stole her body was a... a..."

"A ghost," Kaiba finished. "And, honestly, I have no choice but to believe her. She was... so distraught when she told us what had happened. Tears were streaming down her face, she couldn't really breathe. She kept talking about her parents, how they would be so worried. That poor girl.

"She says that the ghost girl had two servants with her. She had them abduct Taren, and then Taren was put in the Virtual World while the ghost girl possessed her lifeless body. She took over the house; it was still empty, but she, oddly enough, didn't use Taren's name. She used her own. But, Taren doesn't know her name, so we're at one disadvantage.

"I want to find that ghost girl, and free Taren. She looks... so lonely."

Yugi tried to tell himself he was imagining the tears that fell off of Kaiba's face, right to the ground. He was pretty sure Yami and Mokuba were, too. Nevertheless, Yugi put a hand on Kaiba's shoulder.

"We'll find her. I'm pretty sure I know who she is. The ghost girl, I mean," Yugi told him.

Kaiba looked up and smiled. "Who?!"

"Her name is Mahala, but we don't know her last name," Yugi told him.

"Did you say Mahala? As in, the Mahala that means 'sickness'?", Mokuba asked.

Yugi raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Kaiba took Yugi's hand off his shoulder. "There's no time to waste! To the KaibaCorp building!", he shouted.

They- Yugi, Yami, Kaiba, and Mokuba- all hopped into the limousine Kaiba had taken to Mahala's house. They left so hastily, they didn't see Mahala and Saisho walk through the back door only seconds after the car left the driveway.


	4. Four

"So, tell us, how exactly do you know Mahala?", Yugi asked.

Kaiba sighed. "Well, around twelve years ago, a virus developed on one of the computers. I found out it was the computer that controlled the section of the virtual world Noah lived in. I was going to wipe out the virus, do him a favor, but he said that he wanted to deal with it. It was the least I could do, just leave it alone if he wanted it left alone. So, I did.

"After that, I came back every day to check on him, because that virus was continually, just somehow, getting smaller. I saw that Noah was taming it, treating it like a pet. After he had done that, he never paid attention to me unless I pressed that button, the one that would send up a beeping noise that would tell him I was there. But, he loved that virus-pet, because it was the only love he had received in the last twenty years.

"Then, when I came to visit, one day, that virus was no longer a pet. It was a real human being, just about Noah's height, walking next to him. A girl. And, God, she was stunning. She had long, straight hair, that shade of turquoise that Noah's hair was in the front, with dark green streaks throughout. Noah's hair was dark green in the back, you see.

"She was wearing a dress that covered her feet and her arms, bright white, like Noah's uniform. She was wearing black dress shoes, and white silk gloves that covered her hands. Her eyes were dark blue, like Noah's. She looked like a female version of him, really, she did.

"He called her one thing that I could hear. 'Mahala, my sweet daughter', he called her. He had formed this virus into a human being, and taken her as his daughter. She looked like him because he had programmed her to be that way. She wasn't real. She was a virus, reprogrammed into a human being- Noah's daughter.

"Well, I decided to look up her name. 'Mahala' is a Hebrew word that means 'sickness'. He named her for what she is: a virus that rapidly grows. She was scary for being what she was, but there were parts about her that were even more terrifying. One day, I was in my office. I heard her voice. 'Hello, Seto Kaiba,' she was saying to me. I knew I was hearing things. That was, until I looked next to me, and saw her there.

"She was somewhat transparent, and she was floating off the ground. That's when I figured out Mahala was able to come out of the Virtual World without a body; she just came back as a ghost. That was because she was 'born' in the Virtual World; she didn't need a body to travel between the two worlds.

"Everyone else, including Noah, did. That was because we already had bodies of our own and had come into the Virtual World upon will. Mahala hadn't, because she had started her life there. So, I overheard conversations between Noah and Mahala. It was a plan of some sort, but I couldn't figure it out.

"Then, one day, Mahala was missing from the Virtual World. Noah was laying on his bed the whole day; I supposed Mahala had finally lived her life as a virus and been wiped from the system. Then, just this morning, I discovered Noah had gone missing, too. I figured out Noah's and Mahala's plan. They're going to try and give Noah my body, so Noah can have KaibaCorp. It's more likely than anything that Mahala will stay in Taren's body and become his successor.

"I'm determined to get Noah back home, and destroy Mahala before they can go any farther with their plan. I just need to figure out where Mahala is, and who's body Noah has taken over. If I can do that, then KaibaCorp will be safe... and Taren, too."

Yugi smiled. "Why do you care about her? I expected you to care about your company, but a teenage girl? She's gotta be, what, 17? We're in our thirties, Kaiba. You should find a girl your age...!"

Kaiba had put a hand to Yugi's forehead. "It's not your job to tell me who I'm supposed to care about."

There was a ding, and the elevator doors opened. Kaiba, Mokuba, Yugi and Yami ran out. In front of them was a giant screen in front of them, with a teenage girl on it.

"We're back, Taren. And, we brought some friends. They'll be able to help you," Kaiba said to her.

The girl smiled. "Thank you, Seto," she said, bowing. "And, Sir Mokuba. What are the names of your friends? I should like to refer to them by name; to be polite."

Yugi got onto one knee. "Yugi Muto, ma'am. Just call me Yugi."

"And, I, young lady, am...!", Yami froze.

Taren put her hands over her mouth in shock. Kaiba and Mokuba stared at Yami like he had lost his mind. Yami was lying on the ground, moaning, clutching his stomach. Yugi ran over to him.

"Yami!", Yugi yelled, concerned.

Yami kept moaning. "The baby..."

Yugi kissed his forehead. "It'll be okay."

"Is it Rotation Year?", Taren asked him.

"Rotation Year?!", all four boys asked in unison.

"Once every 10,000 years, there is a six-month period of time where men are the only member of their species that have the ability to become pregnant. For that six-month period, females are immune to pregnancy, unless they were already pregnant before the cycle of Rotation Year. Of course, this only happens once every 10,000 years, so this is truly amazing."

Yami groaned. "I wish it... wasn't Rotation Year. This baby... it feels like that it really wants to come, now."

"It can't. You're only about two or three months pregnant; it's way too early for the baby to come," Yugi said to him.

Kaiba and Mokuba looked at the scene like it was from a movie that had failed completely- with their jaws dropped and their arms dropped to their sides. "So, you're trying to tell me that men can get pregnant at any given moment in time, right now?!", Kaiba shouted.

Taren nodded. Kaiba ran and unsuccessfully hid behind Mokuba. "Keep me away from any and every girl, except Taren!"

Yugi looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "She's virtual, until we find Mahala.", Kaiba told him.

Yugi nodded in realization, and helped Yami to his feet. Yami merely bowed to Taren. "And, I am Yami Yugi, but you may call me Yami."

"Good, we're on the first name policy," Taren said. "Well, now that we're introduced, I think we should start with the story."

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Atem was running down the streets, as far away from the hospital as possible. He wanted to stop, he running out of breath, but he didn't want the police to get him. Then, he managed to hide away. He heard the sirens and the footsteps pass right by him.

The sun was pouring it's light down on him, and Atem could barely breathe due to the humidity. He thought for a second, and put his right arm over his stomach. He stood up, and went to find shade. Instead, he found something that was probably his only chance at survival, right now: the KaibaCorp building.

He ran inside.

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"And, that's the tale," Taren said, sitting down.

Yugi and Yami did a light applause. Taren's way of storytelling was amazing and beyond belief. Just then, sirens.

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER IN THE WEST WING OF THE FOURTH FLOOR!"

Kaiba pressed a red button on the side of the wall. "Description of intruder," he requested.

"Gender: Male; Hair color(s): Black, blond, magenta; Eye color: Violet; Skin tone: tan; was last seen wearing a white hospital gown," a voice responded.

Yugi and Yami looked at each other with wary eyes. "Atem," they both said.

Without telling Kaiba, Mokuba, or Taren anything, they ran out of the room.

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Atem was surrounded. Why did he have to run into the KaibaCorp building? He just could've gone back to the house and waited for Yugi to get back. But, he didn't, and now he was going to be arrested.

"STOP!"

Those voices... they were so familiar. It couldn't have been. Not in the KaibaCorp building. But, he was wrong. In front of him were two boys around his age with bright violet colored eyes like his, and the same hair colors and hairstyle.

"Atem!", Yugi and Yami shouted with glee.

Atem stood up, and ran into them, knocking all three down, right onto the floor. All three of them were hugging and kissing one another and crying, and not a single one of them could keep themselves from doing so.

Suddenly Atem sat up, causing Yugi and Yami to do the same. "Okay, guys," he said to them. "I found out two things. One, I'm... pregnant."

Yugi and Yami looked at him with anger and joy.

"Oh, Ra," Atem groaned, "you are not happy for anyone, this week. Second, there's this thing called Rotation Year, it's...!"

Yugi smiled. "Taren told us about that already."

Atem raised an eyebrow. "Taren?"

Yami chuckled. "We'll explain on the way there," Yugi said.

All three stood up, and headed for the elevator.


	5. Five

"So, Mahala's a ghost, Taren's trapped in the Virtual World because Mahala stole her body, Noah's gone, and we can't find Mahala, Saisho, or Noah?", Atem asked, trying to fit together the pieces of the puzzle.

Yugi and Yami nodded, but Yami fell to the ground out of pain. "And, he's having complications?", Atem added.

Yugi nodded, petting Yami. Suddenly, the elevator doors opened, and Kaiba, Mokuba, and Taren were in the room, ultimately shocked. "It took you long enough!", Kaiba shouted.

"What happened?", Yami asked, his voice strained.

Tears were rolling down Taren's face. "I found... an infant. He has to be no more than a month old."

She was holding him in her arms, but she couldn't seem to hold her emotions together. Looking at the infant, Yugi completely understood why.

It was Saisho.

Yugi ran up to the screen, and started banging on it in anger. Neither Kaiba or Taren begged him to stop; they allowed him to continue.

"SAISHO! SAISHO! IT'S OKAY! WE'LL GET YOU OUT OF THERE! SAISHO!", Yugi screamed.

Yami looked at him, tears rolling down his own face, matching the ones going down Yugi's and Taren's faces. Atem looked at the scene, disgusted. Soon enough, he couldn't keep his rage tucked away any longer.

"Who cares about the damn kid?! I don't!", he yelled.

Taren's face was now a mix of devastated and infuriated. "How can you say that?! He's your son! How could you say that?! I know he's yours, I know it! Why don't you love him?! How can you say you don't love him?! How can you say that?!"

"He didn't come from Yami," Atem explained, speaking calmly. "He's not pure; he's not deserving of my love."

Taren pounded on her side of the screen. "GET OUT OF HERE! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU IN THIS ROOM FOR AS LONG AS I'M STUCK HERE!"

Atem didn't retort, he just ran out. Taren, Yugi, and Yami were all crying, Kaiba and Mokuba were standing to the side of the room, their hands clenched into fists. Atem was smiling as he ran out. He knew right where he was going.

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"Don't worry," Mahala said to the baby asleep in the crib, "we're one step closer to our goal. Soon enough, we'll take Uncle Seto's company from him, after we take his body for you to use. When we do that, we'll trap the insolent Stars in that wretched world, and Uncle Mokuba, and anyone else who dares to step in our way. If we do that, we can win the war, even if we do lose a battle."

The baby moaned. Mahala smiled. "I must admit," she said, speaking a little more quietly, "taking the baby's body to sneak your way in here was a wonderful idea. I'll keep you with me; I'll practically be stealing you. Then, I'll just look like a young girl who became a mother too early in her life. Soon enough, I'll be able to get help from someone who will get us a step closer to... let's try Yugi Muto.

"Once we get Yugi Muto, we can get Uncle Seto, then we can have KaibaCorp. I promise, Daddy, I won't let you down."

She lifted the baby's head, and kissed it on the forehead. She turned off the lights, and left the room.

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Atem stopped running to catch his breath, but only for a few seconds, then he continued to run. He would only get help if he went where he was going: the airport.

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"We've got to find Mahala and Noah," Mokuba said, tears falling. "Noah's gone, we find Saisho, it's more than likely that Noah took Saisho's body!"

"But, why a baby?!", Taren asked.

"Because," Kaiba explained, suddenly realizing everything, "a baby is one of the most innocent disguises you could come across! And, nobody knows that Mahala practically has committed some of the worst crimes known to man, and is about to commit more, so they look like an innocent mother, and her son! We need to move out!"

Yugi, Yami, and Mokuba ran into the elevator. Kaiba stayed standing in front of the screen. "Set a timer," he told her. "If we're not back in 168 hours, file missing persons reports, for Yugi, Yami, Mokuba, and I. Missing persons reports have already been filed on Mahala and Saisho."

"What about Atem?", Taren asked him.

"Nobody gives a damn about Atem," Kaiba told her. He typed something on the keyboard, then waved goodbye to her. He ran into the elevator with the others, and it went down.

It took only seconds after Kaiba left for Taren to get his message: a crying face, with a heart following it. She started to cry.

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Seconds to spare, and only seconds. Atem needed to get to the airport, before anyone else caught onto what he was doing. He needed to get there.

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Yugi, Yami, Kaiba, and Mokuba ran, and ran, and ran. They were headed for a place they were definite they would find clues as to where Mahala and Noah-Saisho were. They were headed to 115 November Avenue: Taren's original house... and Mahala's current.

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Not even a second to spare, now. He was only a few minutes away; would he make it in time? He had to try.

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Just a few blocks away. It was almost midnight, and upon their presence in the neighborhood, dogs were barking. Lights were turning on because of this, and all four were sure that almost the entire neighborhood knew they were there. They were sure their luck had run out when no lights turned on at 115.

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Mahala held her father, in the infant's body, in her arms. She was moving one blind to the side, peeking out of it. Her uncles and two of the Stars were coming. She had to escape.

She wrapped Noah up in a blanket. She locked the front door and the windows, and ran out the back door. No one would find here where she was headed.

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Just about a minute. Why was the ticket line so long? That line would have to move quickly, really quickly, or he would have to take the next flight there.

45 seconds to go, three people in front of him. Hopefully, this would go by fast.

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Kaiba fidgeted with the doorknob in several ways, but the door wouldn't open.

"Damn," he muttered, pounding on the door.

"Watch out," Yami yelled, breathing hard.

Kaiba stepped out of the way, and Yami took a few steps back. He then proceeded to run right into the door, knocking it down. He fell to his knees, exhausted. Yugi picked him up on his way through.

"Good job, starfish," Kaiba told him.

"Good job, sweetie," Yugi said to him at the exact same time.

Yami heard Yugi better than he did Kaiba, and he was grateful for that. They all separated, and searched the whole house, but Mahala and Noah-Saisho were nowhere to be found.

"I think she took him with her, and ran," Mokuba said.

Yami started to scream.

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He had just about 15 seconds, but he had his ticket. He rushed past the gate, left his ticket there, and boarded the plane. Just about 5 seconds left. Good timing.

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"Yami, what's going on?!", Yugi asked, concerned.

"Not now, not now...", Yami muttered to himself, ignoring Yugi.

"The baby.", Yugi whispered in realization.

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The engines started. **Now taking off, Flight 341, to Egypt, Africa** , the pilot said over the speaker.

Some might've called Atem crazy. But, he knew exactly what he was doing: a smart thing.

Or, so he thought.

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Mahala ran as fast as she could, keeping her father held tightly in her arms. She ran towards the KaibaCorp building, where she knew her uncles and the Stars had just left. Her father's plan had backfired on her, but she had a perfect new one.

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Yugi carried Yami on his back, running towards his house. Kaiba and Mokuba weren't quite sure what to make of it, but they followed them.

"Hey, Starfish Jr.! What's going on?!", Kaiba yelled.

"The baby's coming!", Yugi shouted back.

"Yugi. Yugi, stop.", Yami begged, his voice a whisper.

Yugi stopped running, and put Yami back onto his feet. Yami put a hand on his forehead, and the other on his stomach. "It was a false alarm. We're good. But... we do know that Mahala has Noah, who is in Saisho's body. Meaning, we need to find Mahala, and put a tracking device on her, so we can find her if we lose her again."

"Already covered," a familiar voice said.

Kaiba pulled out his phone, in astonishment. Taren was there. "And," she continued, "she's headed for KaibaCorp building! You need to stop her!"

Kaiba nodded. Taren's voice faded, and all four boys dashed for KaibaCorp. They had to get there and stop Mahala, before it was too late.


	6. Six

The plane was already in the air and moving. Atem wasn't taking any of this back. He was going to Egypt; he knew what he was doing. Or, maybe he didn't. He felt his spine tighten. He made a noise, but he was pretty sure no one heard it.

"Hey, love the cape-thing," a girl said, sitting next to him.

Atem started to blush. "Thank you," he said.

"Also, just wondering," she said, "how do you do that with your hair? I'd do anything to do something like that!"

"It kinda just happened as I got older," Atem explained, "I don't need to style it. This is just my hair as is."

She smiled. "That's cool," she said in awe. "I'm Kira," she told him, extending a hand.

Atem put his hand in hers. He had practiced this gesture with Yugi and Yami. A handshake, they called it. "I'm Atem," he responded.

Atem studied her carefully. If he was estimating correctly, Kira had to be in her mid-to-late fourties. Either way, she was still beautiful.

"So, why're you headed to Egypt? I've got relatives here, my cousins," Kira told him.

He looked out the window next to him. "I've got a problem back home, and a friend I have Egypt could help," Atem explained.

He groaned, and put a hand over his stomach. Kira didn't see, she just heard. "Are you okay, Atem?"

"Yeah," he answered, his voice strained, "Just fine. I'm good."

Kira raised an eyebrow. "Okay, then... So, what's this problem?"

Atem had to do that thing. What was it...lying? He would have to just take a stab at it. "Some of my relatives have gone missing, and my Egyptian friend is good at solving mysteries."

Kira nodded. "I get it. You just want your family. That's why I'm going to visit my cousins, for a similar reason."

She pulled a photograph out of the front pocket on her shirt. "Here. That's what my cousins looked like the last time I saw them. Of course, I haven't seen them for 40 years. I was 7, myself when I saw them last. My aunt and uncle are in the photo, too, but I'm mainly just going to see my cousins. This photo was taken around the time I saw them last."

47\. Kira was 47. Now, he knew.

Atem took the photograph from her hand to look at it. He didn't want to admit to himself what he was seeing. He knew, and could name, every person in this photograph.

In the front was a young girl in a long, white robe, smiling wide. One could see that her two front teeth were missing in her mouth. Her hair was black, and it was tied into two loose, long pigtails on each side of her head, near the bottom, so they draped down her shoulders. Atem knew, that by the time she was in her twenties, she would look almost identical to her mother, who was in the photo behind her. Her mother had a veil over her mouth, however, and was visibly pregnant.

Ishizu Ishtar, and her mother, Veronica.

Next to Ishizu was a young boy, who had to be around for five years older than her. He was wearing another white robe. He was bald in the front, but Atem could notice a long black ponytail on the back of his head. He was smiling wide, like Ishizu had been, but all of his teeth were present, being older by a few years. Atem knew he would never grow up to resemble his father, as he was adopted.

Odion Ishtar.

Behind him, his adopted father. He had unruly, dirty blond hair, although a good amount of it was covered by a hood of another long, white robe, so there really wasn't much to see, otherwise. Atem knew that his son would be born later, and he would grow up to resemble him.

Henry "Hank" Ishtar.

Kira's cousins were the Ishtar family. In this picture, taken around the time she had seen them last, Marik hadn't been born yet, and Henry and Veronica were still alive. She was in for a rude awakening when she found the Ishtar family as they were. She would probably mistake Ishizu for Veronica, and Marik for Henry, if Atem didn't know better.

Atem handed her the photograph. "Did you know? We're going to see the same people," he told her.

"You're friends with my cousins?", she asked Atem, in awe.

Atem nodded, and turned to look out the window. He remembered, he had received a letter from Marik a few years back:

 _...but, I really did appreciate your helping me. You're braver than Cousin Kira, and that's saying something. To quote "The Lion King", she 'laughs in the face of danger'..._

So, Atem was now meeting the heavily brave cousin Kira. Marik must've only heard stories from Odion or Ishizu; he was much too young to have known Kira around that time. But, still, now, nearly everyone knew each other. Marik, Ishizu, and Odion knew Atem, Ishizu and Odion knew Kira, Kira knew Atem, and Ishizu and Odion knew Kira. Marik knew of Kira's existence, but hadn't met her in person. Kira didn't even know Marik existed.

"Kira, I need to tell you something," Atem said to her.

"What is it?", she asked him.

"You-", Atem was cut off.

Pardon us, passengers. The plane engines are malfunctioning, and we have to initiate an emergency landing. Please buckle up and fasten your seatbelts as we proceed with the landing.

Atem and Kira put on their seatbelts and tightened them. Their plane had a good chance of crashing, but the two of them had to take the risk if they wanted to get to Egypt.

And, they did.

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The four boys had been running as fast as their legs could take them, all the way to KaibaCorp. They were in such a hurry to get to the Virtual World simulator, they took the stairs instead of the elevator. Mokuba and Yami ended up having to be carried by Kaiba and Yugi, they had run out of energy so quickly.

When they got to the room containing the Virtual World simulator, the door was closed, and Taren was standing in front of it.

Taren?

Kaiba hugged her tightly. "You're okay."

Taren stepped away from him, and handed Saisho to Yugi. "Your child, Mr. Muto. Listen," she said to Kaiba, "you're too late. Noah and Mahala decided to take over KaibaCorp from the inside."

"Quite correct, my dear Taren," a voice said over the loudspeaker.

Noah's voice. "We've taken over the KaibaCorp building!", a female voice shouted.

Kaiba knew it was Mahala, but the others didn't. When she took over Taren's body, she had Taren's voice. Now, she had her own.

"Mahala, you must stop!", Kaiba yelled.

"Sorry! I've already converted myself back to virus form! I'm spreading and taking over your computers as we speak! Soon enough, all of my KaibaCorp will belong to Daddy, and I'll be right there with him!"

Yami cringed. Mahala was programmed. She should've called Noah, 'Father', or something along those lines. Was she actually... able to love?

Yami ran past Taren, and knocked the door down.

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"Mahala, my daughter, you are doing an amazing job," Noah said. "Now, I want you to lock all of those electronic doors. No one will be able to reach u…"

He paused as he saw Yami in the doorway, standing on top of one of the doors… broken off its hinges.

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Yami ran to the keyboard in front of him. He started typing hastily, attempting to do something not even Kaiba could figure out. He smiled, as he saw Noah look at Mahala in astonishment. Mahala was crying tears. Yami kept going. Yugi ran to his side.

"What are you doing?", Yugi asked.

"I'm programming memories into Mahala; some of them, things that haven't happened yet. I'm giving her memories of the death of her imaginary mother at the hands of childbirth, the funeral, the death and funeral of her baby brother, the car crash that nearly killed Noah, her grandfather's, and grandmother's deaths… and even Noah's death.

"Because she hasn't had any of these memories before, they'll all come to her at once. Now, I'm giving her thoughts of suicide. If this works the way I want it to, then Mahala will kill herself. First, because she believes her father to be dead, she'll attempt to kill him, thinking he's just an illusion. She'll succeed: her power is greater than Noah's. Then, she'll kill herself."

Yugi watched the screen as Noah stood up and ran over to Mahala. He was petting her, whispering things into her ear, drying her tears. She stopped crying, and looked out.

"You think you can stop me? Well, think again," Mahala said.

Suddenly, great winds started to blow, oddly enough, and Mahala began to pixelate. Then, a flash of blinding light… and Yugi, Yami, Kaiba, and Mokuba were gone.


	7. Seven

Yugi opened his eyes, slowly. He blinked once. Twice. He sat up, and looked around him. It looked like the park, it did, but he knew it wasn't. Was he where he thought he was? He looked to his side, and gasped. he carefully shook Yami awake.

"Yugi?", he moaned. "What's going on?"

"I think we're inside the Virtual World," he told him.

"That would be correct!"

They both jumped. They knew the voice. It was Noah. They were never more sure of where they were; they were in the Virtual World.

"My daughter, Mahala, has taken you here! And, your friend Taren is here, too! Be prepared to live in damnation for the rest of your lives, my friends!"

His voice faded as quickly as it had suddenly boomed throughout the park. Suddenly, Yami started making moaning noises; screaming, too.

"Yugi... the baby... I think..."

Suddenly, there was an explosion of water.

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Taren started running to the park. Noah's voice had been echoing through the park merely seconds ago; he had to still be there, or, at least, someone had to be. He wouldn't have done that without having someone to talk to, unless he was some kind of idiot.

Maybe he **was** talking to himself.

No, there was someone there. If he was just practicing, he would've said something to compliment himself before continuing, or turning off the screen. There was someone in the park. Taren kept running. If they got to the control room of the Virtual World, they would be able to override the system.

She stopped behind a tree. A security droid? Noah was really trying to look for them, or something else. But, what could you look for when you had a way to find everything? He was able to hunt them down, why would he have security droids out? Was there something else he was looking for?

Taren heard moaning and screaming. A familiar voice. She turned around. The park was behind her. And right there, lying in the center of it, was Yugi, holding up Yami, who was sweating intensely, breathing heavily, moaning slightly, and, more than anything, screaming. Taren gasped. Was Yami in labor, already?

He only looked about 2 or 3 months pregnant. When she did a scan, he was about 2 and ½ months. He shouldn't have been anywhere near close to having the baby. Something was up.

"Yugi! Yami!", she yelled.

Yugi turned to look at her, and gestured for her to come over. He didn't have to do anything, she was already running over. Yami truly was in pain, and Yugi was petting him.

"It'll be okay," he told him. "Just wait. Just wait, okay? As soon as we find the others, as soon as we know where everyone is, you can lay here and give birth. The baby will be born, and it'll be healthy, I promise you. You'll be okay; it'll be okay."

Yami was biting his bottom lip, trying not to scream. Yugi was petting him, still, kissing him on the forehead.

"Should I go and find Seto and Mokuba?", Taren asked, putting a hand on top of Yami's.

"No need."

She looked behind her. Seto was there, holding Mokuba in his arms. "He's just tired. We should let him rest." He glanced over at Yami. "What's going on with the starfish?"

"He's in labor," Taren explained.

"Will we be here long?", Kaiba asked her.

"It all depends on how long it takes him to give birth," Taren explained.

Yami took Yugi's hand, and, to everyone's surprise, stood up. He was breathing extremely hard, and nearly fell over again when he took another step. "Don't worry... I'll be okay. We have to... stop Noah before... he... takes over... KaibaCorp..."

He fell over again. Taren helped him to his feet, and he leaned into her to keep his balance.

"If I die, and anyone asks: Kaiba did it," he muttered.

Kaiba seemed furious, but Taren and Yugi only smiled and chuckled. Kaiba laid Mokuba on the ground, and proceeded to slap Yami and Yugi. Taren remained untouched.

"What was that for?! And, why did you slap Yami?! You should've slapped me!", Taren screamed.

Kaiba was stiff. "You're a girl! I can't hurt you!"

Taren's face was red with anger. "Yami's in a lot of physical pain right now, and Yugi's got emotional pain going through him right now! I've truly got nothing going on with me, and you decide to leave me alone! Seto Kaiba, you are abusive, selfish, and reckless! I don't want you to get anywhere near me, or my friends! Leave, and leave alone! Your little brother will be safer with us!"

Kaiba's eyebrows lowered, but he ran off.

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"Kira! Kira!"

No response. Atem lifted the broken end of a plane wing. "Kira! Where are you, Kira?!"

Atem gasped as he lifted a sheet of metal that broke off of the body of the plane. Underneath it was Kira, but she wasn't breathing, and her heart wasn't going. Atem brought her into his arms. "Don't worry," he told her, "I'll make sure they know about you."

He walked off, limping to the Ishtar home.

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"Let's go," Taren said, "unless you want to have the baby, now."

Yami shook his head. "We have a mission to carry out.", he whispered, breathing as he spoke.

Taren pulled out her cellphone, and typed something on it's slide-out keyboard. Suddenly, a wheelchair appeared next to her. "I've learned a little bit of coding after a few years in the Virtual World.", she said, tucking her phone back into her pocket.

She helped Yami into it. She stepped behind him, and pushed the wheelchair, running at lightning speed. Yugi was behind her. They were all rushing to the digital KaibaCorp. Suddenly, Yami screamed in pain, and both Yugi and Taren stopped.

"No," he said, "keep going. I'm... fine."

Taren didn't move. "No. I won't. Either we stay here and let you have the baby, or one of us stays here with you while you give birth, and meet the other at KaibaCorp. I'm not going to go in there with you, when you're in labor, and so very clearly are not able to function. So, what is it going to be?", she asked.

Yami looked up, and sighed out. "Both of you go, and I'll stay here and give birth. I'll catch up with you and Yugi once I have the baby, alright? Just, please. Don't let me be a roadblock on your path to stopping Noah and Mahala. I don't want to stop you. Just... go."

Yugi started racing off, but stopped in his tracks when he saw that Taren was still with Yami. He watched as she leaned over, kissed him on the forehead, hugged him, kissed him again, and followed Yugi.

"What was that for?", Yugi asked when Taren had reached his side.

"I feel like I know him from somewhere, a long time ago.", she answered.

Yugi could only smile as they ran through the entranceway to the KaibaCorp Building.


	8. Eight

Atem knew he was there. Two large wooden trapdoors that would bring him to the Ishtar home. He smiled. He had finally made it, and he would get his friends the help that they needed. He knocked on the trap door, and they opened up.

Ishizu was there. "Pharaoh Atem!", she screamed.

He took a few steps down the large staircase that would take him inside, to be standing on the same step that Ishizu was standing on. "Atem, you can't be here right now! We've got a crisis!"

"Let me guess," Atem started, "it has something to do with Rotation Year."

Ishizu nodded. "Precisely."

"Marik?", Atem asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ishizu nodded again. Atem groaned. "Are we all getting hit by this?! First, it's Yugi, then it's Yami, then me, and Marik! We might as well...!"

Ishizu put a finger to his lips. "Did you say it's not just Marik? That, you and Yugi and Yami are all being affected by this?"

Atem nodded. Ishizu let out a sigh of relief. "It's nice to know that's not just happening to my little brother. Follow me, young Pharaoh."

She grabbed his hand, and they walked down the steps together. "So, where's your older brother?", Atem asked.

Ishizu put her hands to her sides. "He's in Libya, and won't be back for another few days. It's just me and Marik. And, Marik's..."

"...in labor?", Atem finished, wondering if he was filling it in correctly.

"Yes," Ishizu told him. "Not having had any children of my own, I have no experience with a birth or a delivery. This makes me wonder if you could help me with this."

"I delivered Saisho," Atem said. "That was Yugi's baby. I'd be happy to help you. But, if you could be so kind as to come back home with me..."

"Why?"

"There's... a crisis at home, and we need help to deal with it. I was thinking you and your family could help."

"Of course, my Pharaoh. I'd be honored to serve you, and my brother would, as well, I'm sure. But, Marik's baby must first be delivered, then we will accompany you on your journey back home."

Atem smiled. "Thank you."

Suddenly, Atem heard a voice calling Ishizu's name. A familiar voice. As soon as Ishizu started running down the stairs, Atem began to follow her. They came off the stairs and went down several hallways, but they were still running. They stopped in what appeared to be Marik's room, where Marik was laying on his bed.

"Something's wrong," he said, attempting to sit up. Atem helped him, so his back was leaning on the wall to keep him upright.

Ishizu only hugged him. "It'll be okay. The Pharaoh said he's delivered a baby before. Right, Pharaoh Atem?"

"Ishizu, don't be so formal. Just call me 'Atem'. But, yes, I have. You're going to be just fine, Marik. I promise you.", Atem said.

"He said something was wrong.", Ishizu reminded Atem.

"Well, that means we'll just have to deliver this baby right here, right now," Atem told her, then turned to Marik. "You'll be fine. I want you to start pushing, okay? Okay?!"

Marik nodded, and began to push.

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Yami started crying. He didn't want to do this without Atem or Yugi being there, but he had to. He was also in a tremendous amount of pain, laying there in labor. He felt like dying right there, but he know he couldn't. Yugi and Taren were depending on him.

He didn't know if he wanted to start pushing. He wasn't sure if he would hurt the baby, or himself. But, he knew, it wouldn't be over until he started. So, he did.

He felt extreme amounts of pain go up his spine. He had to keep going, though. The baby was stuck inside him if he didn't keep going. He felt the head pass through. He started screaming. He couldn't help it. He knew the head was the easy part. The shoulders were wider, which meant giving birth to this baby was only going to get harder.

He kept pushing. He wished that his whole body would go numb so he didn't have to feel the pain. He thought he was going to die of all of the pain regent through his body, but that didn't make him stop going. He felt the shoulders go through. The torso was next. He didn't know how hard that was going to be. He started pushing harder. Then, he remembered.

 _"Yugi," Atem warned, "no matter what you feel, no matter how bad the pain is, you've got to push at a steady rate."_

 _"Steady rate?! What the hell does that mean?!", Yugi shouted._

 _Yami ran his hands up and down his arms. He had never heard Yugi curse before._

 _Atem seemed calm. "It just means you can't push too hard. If you do, there's a pretty good chance you could hurt the baby, or yourself. Okay? Okay?!"_

 _Yugi nodded. "Steady rate. Steady..." he hissed in pain. "Rate."_

Yami stopped pushing as hard, and went quack to pushing like he had been before. He screamed. He was pretty sure that he was going to break the computer screen with such loud screaming. He kept going. As he stopped pushing, he heard crying.

He had done it.

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Marik laid back, as Yami held the new baby in his arms. "Oh, Marik. I'm so sorry," he said, holding it tightly.

Marik sat up again. "What? What happened?"

He handed the baby to Marik. It's skin had a bluish tinge to it, and there were blue-red splotches around it's neck. As Marik held the little baby in his arms, he began to cry.

"It's not fair," Marik whispered. "It's not fair. Why? Why did this have to happen?"

"Hey," Atem said. He took a cloth and wrapped the baby in it, despite it being dead, then handed it to Marik, "if my baby makes it through the birth, you can have it."

Marik looked up from his stillborn daughter and up at Atem. "You can't be serious."

"My house will be busy enough without a third child to deal with. I can tell you want a baby. I can see that look in your eye, Marik. You want to be a better father to your baby than your father was to you, and this baby's death just didn't seem fair. My baby can be an Ishtar, instead of a Muto," Atem said.

Marik handed the baby to Ishizu, and hugged Atem. "Thank you," he whispered, still crying, but now out of happiness.

"Do you still want to name her?", Ishizu asked, handing the baby back to Marik.

Marik nodded, and cradled her in his arms. "Her name is... Lana. Lana Ishtar," Marik announced.

"That's beautiful," Atem said.

"I'm still going to keep her. I don't want to bury her and forget her," Marik said. "If I forget her, that's a part of my family forgotten. I don't want to forget any member of my family."

He hugged Lana tightly and kissed her forehead. "Let's get going," Marik said, pulling Lana to his chest.

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Yami picked up the newborn, even though it was still covered in blood. He had nothing to clean it off with, so he held it as it was. He quickly discovered that his newborn baby was a girl. Keeping his word, he immediately began to call her Totsuzen. He listened to her cries for a moment, knowing that her voice was all too close to Yugi's. He smiled

He, then, slowly stood up, and walked towards KaibaCorp building. He had a job to do.

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"Marik, Ishizu, can I tell you something?", Atem asked, watching the clouds pass by in his window.

"Of course," Ishizu said.

Atem sighed. "As I was getting onto this plane, I met a girl. She was around 47 years of age. She claimed to be your cousin. I became good friends with her on the plane ride, but the plane began to malfunction. It had to land, but it crashed. When I emerged from the rubble, I found her, but..."

"...she wasn't alive," Marik finished.

Atem nodded. "I was the only person to come out alive. The pilot, the copilot, all of the other passengers... dead. I was it. And, even then, I twisted my ankle getting out of the rubble. But, I took this necklace off of her body, so you would have it to remember her by."

He handed the necklace to Ishizu. It was a single seashell, with several smaller shells stringed on the chain that the necklace was made on. Ishizu looked at it, and sighed. "Was her name Kira?", Ishizu asked.

"Yes," Atem responded. "She said she only remembered you, Odion, and your parents."

"Well, Mother was pregnant with Marik when she came to visit last. Too bad that she had to pass away. I would've liked to see her again," Ishizu said.

"Oh, well," Marik said, smiling and holding Lana.

"How can you be like that, Marik? Our cousin, a wonderful relative you didn't even know, is now dead!", Ishizu screamed.

Marik smiled, and turned to look at Ishizu. "The lives we live are rough lives, but no one else can live them for us. We have to keep moving forward, always remembering everything we want to remember, and forgetting the things that don't matter.

"I will always remember Kira, even if I hadn't met her. What I'm trying to say is that I have to stay positive to make my life positive."

Ishizu leaned over to whisper into Atem's ear. "I think my little brother has grown up, Atem."

Atem nodded in agreement.


End file.
